Would You Give Your Last Rolo …..come on ! Every child deserves a happy childhood.

Mmmm now that is a tricky question! If it was anything else with pleasure, no hesitation but honestly chocolate…..NO !!!🤣

Seriously though I’m not materialistic, never have been and if someone needed something then without a doubt I’d give.

In saying that I don’t have a great deal to give literally but I don’t think that being charitable always has to be meant in the monetary sense.

So what about the hundreds of charities there are around us? What about these ?

First to be clear lets get a definition of charity ……

‘an organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.‘

When you think of the word charity what do you think of ?

I think of stories that I learnt as a child about charitable people Robin Hood , Mother Theresa, Nurse Nightingale etc one thing all of these had in common is that they freely gave of themselves to help others.

So it wasn’t for self gain ,it wasn’t a business. Of course it would need running and organizing but on a not for profit basis.

I think it’s fairly obvious where this blog is leading to as I have been vocal about this before.

A few years ago people were shocked to see just how much money these charity bosses were paid . Things haven’t changed they are still on big bucks ,this isn’t what my issue is here.

The problem I have is that charities take on contracts from local authorities to provide a service. They outline the service that they will provide for that area . They accept money for providing that service yet nobody checks on the quality.

In my own area there isn’t much support for young carers or young people or their families at all .

It’s hard enough swallowing your pride in the first place and saying that I’m sick, hubby’s working and the kid’s are stuck in their world had changed completely and we are struggling.

I’m not going to go through everything that has happened as I do know that the charity staff that are working in my area are good people and do the best they can . It’s not their fault that they have been given an impossible task .

The simple truth is that funding has been cut so services have been cut.

The charity that I’m referring to in my area is Barnardos. There are less than a handful of staff to cover the whole area.

The staff I have no complaints about so this is not a personal attack as such . I’m simply saying that they are unable to provide the services that they offer when they are trying to get tenders/contracts from local authorities .

What I’m getting irritated about is that the CEO Javed Khan is constantly going to conferences acting like Barnardos is the saviours of the children’s services!! I simply want him to answer why some of the charity’s money (profit) that is being made , isn’t being use towards the children’s services that they are running that are falling short of the expectations what they sold when going for tenders and needs of families in the area?

Services in Lancashire

This is the leaflet that is handed out stating all the support for young carers that is provided by Barnardos.

Here’s another leaflet with a little more information elaborating what their ethos is and working methods are.

You just expect help to be there ,some guidance. I remember when i had my children my health visitor Lavinia Olsen was the best support ever. She was there ,she coordinated everything for my family and me. If i had a question she’d answer it, if she didn’t know she would find out .

Babies development checks , injections support. The point is you just had to reach out to one person who was there for you . That’s all changed now too though I believe.

I became ill 8 years ago now and just finding support for my children was a task.

When i knew my illness wasn’t going anywhere then I thought my children should have some support as their lives changed so much. This support is also supposed to be offered under the carers act 2014 (I found out later )

I typed in young carers support and Carers Trust said to type in my postcode to find the nearest support centre for young carers.

This is where it came up with

So i phoned and spoke to them and even though I go to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for treatment and my children are under consultants at Blackpool Victoria Hospital,as we live in Thornton we weren’t entitled to attend this service.

This service is part funded by local authority but that actually only accounts for a small amount of their funding that they recieve .

They also recieve money from different charities which aren’t from a local authority for a local service so I’m sure that the service could be extended to help children further afield. It seems that we are only invited to fund raisers ironically.

If you are a young carer or a parent of a young carer do get in touch with them as what they do is amazing.

Barnardos Lancashire have had their funding cut over the years so even though the #Charity itself is actually doing really well financially with a recorded turnover exceeding £300m one wonders where the donations that people are giving are going .

This means many young carers aren’t getting the services that are stipulated in Barnardos outdated programmes as they can no longer fund respite. There’s no meeting other young carers . Infact it seems that it’s become more of a signpost service now . If when the assessment has been done and support is needed other services like cahms etc will be called in (so I’m told)

The big problem is that if you look at the Ofsted reports the children’s services aren’t running as they should so there isn’t anyone or anything in our area to move refer them to.

The last think is the actual assessment Barnardos do with the child . The assessor won’t have met your child before . One of the questions is “do you see yourself as a young carer?”

If your child doesn’t identify themselves as a young carer even if they obviously are they don’t get support? Yet the area Manager Jenny Ashcroft says

So why even have that question in the assessment? I believe it’s a get out clause for offering support.

My daughter was shy and I knew she wouldn’t open up to this woman that was assessing her . I said she needed support but because when asked if she saw herself as a carer her reply was “It’s normal ,we just get on with it”,she got nothing and the story doesn’t end there….

The area in which i live is a large area and I know that the staff do their best to do what they can. They can’t preform a miracle though.

I’ve continuously asked for support from charities like Carers Trust (again an advocate for young carers apparently) and Carers UK to help start up some kind of group for young carers in Fleetwood Wyre and Fylde but no.

The last quote which I find completely hypocritical goes to Mr Khan himself from an article from the Times

It makes me laugh that it says that they even have to spend some of their own money on holistic treatments. Well HELLO they are a charity so they should be spending the money on children,shouldn’t they ? If they do that they won’t have enough for the pensions for all the former employers and Mr Khan’s salary of £190,000 ( approx)

I have asked Mr Khan to answer my questions but there is no transparency with him . I was wondering why he had such a heavy pr team working on his image then I found these :

It seems like it’s ok to turn their eyes away from the things that are happening in the world.

Does this seem like a charity or a business or both .

The ones suffering are the children the staff volunteering or being paid buttens to keep the service going in some shape or form. Whilst the CEO goes around giving his speeches about a world where no child is turned away, simply to get more funding and tenders to pay his wage and the pensions of all the past employees. Oh and the little bit begrudgingly paid for holistic treatments!!!

Meanwhile some areas like mine have no support groups that meet up for young carers . There’s no family approach there’s nothing really.

I am angry not at the staff in my area but that javed khan thinks it’s acceptable and won’t discuss it.

It’s not just about my children or family anymore. NO CHILD SHOULD BE TURNED AWAY ! It’s about doing the services right thing.

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